The invention relates to a beverage holder, and, more particularly, to a beverage holder having a sleeve of reusable refrigerant disposed therein for circumferentially engaging and chilling a contained beverage.
It is conventionally desirable to consume beverages such as soft drinks and particularly beer in a chilled state. Such beverages are thus stored in refrigerated areas such as ice boxes or ice chests for sufficient periods of time prior to consumption to lower the temperature of the beverage and impart maximum thirst quenching effectiveness thereto. It is particularly desirable to consume chilled beverages out of doors when the environmental conditions include temperatures in, around and above that of the normal body temperature. In such circumstances perspiration is generally induced in the mammalian body. The release of fluid from the body in the form of evaporation helps cool and maintain the normal body temperature. The consumption of fluid such as soft drinks and beer is then integral to a normal body fluid level.
Beverages such as soft drinks are often emptied from their containers into glasses or cups filled with ice to afford maximum chilling during consumption. The taste of soft drinks is not adversely affected by the water produced by the melting ice. However, in the case of beer or ale, ice can not be added due to the watering effect and the undesirable taste resulting therefrom. For this reason beer is usually stored in refrigerators where the temperature is relatively low. Unfortunately conventional refrigerators are not generally kept at a temperature whereby the beverage is suitably chilled to a point near that of freezing. Unless the consumer wishes to place the beverage can or bottle in the refrigerator freezer to suitably chill it, a beverage such as beer is normally considered "cool" but not cold. But neither beer nor soft drinks can be left in the freezer unattended since both would eventually freeze. For this reason beer and many soft drinks are consumed directly from their containers in a less than desirable chilled state.
The desirability of consuming beverages in whatever chilled state is available has prompted the development of certain apparatus to insulate the chilled beverage containers from the environment during consumption thereof. One such device of contemporary popularity is a beverage can holder comprised of a suitable foam material molded into an insulative cup configuration suitable for receiving a beverage can therein. Usually a plastic lip is provided at the top of the insulative cup whereby the beverage can is disposed centrally therein with a dead air space therearound. The combination of the foam insulation characteristics and dead air space comprise a suitable means for maintaining the chilled condition of the beverage for some extended period of time. Such insulative cups, or beverage holders, are most popular out of doors where an uninsulated beverage will quickly absorb the heat of the environment.
Certain problems exist with the aforesaid prior art beverage holders. The beverage must initially be chilled. Once the beverage container is removed from its chilled environment it can only get warmer, and the insulated beverage container only retards this inevitable result. Aggravating the warming trend is the conventional beverage container material which is usually aluminum or glass. Such materials have a relatively high rate of thermal conductivity which operates to afford heat absorption into the beverage. Moreover, once a substantial portion of the beverage is consumed, the low temperature thermal volume of the remainder is disproportionate to the dead air space thermal volume. It would therefore be desirable to provide a beverage holder which could overcome the aforesaid porblems wherein a beverage could be consumed over an elongated period of time at a constant and desirably low temperature.
The refrigerated beverage holder of the present invention is especially adapted for intensively chilling and maintaining the chilled condition of the beverage before and during consumption. The present device overcomes many of the disadvantages of piror art insulative beverage holders by providing a medium therein which absorbs heat from the enclosed beverage rather than transferring heat thereto. In this manner the thermal conductivity properties of the beverage container are utilized to the advantage of chilled consumption and the beverage may actually be cooled below the temperature from which it was removed.